Key Takeaways
- Create a theater-like environment with blackout curtains to eliminate light.
- Adjust TV settings to improve brightness.
- Rearrange your setup to avoid direct sunlight.
Longer days, sunnier skies, and warmer weather mean a lot more available light, and while the weather may be a boon for the spirit, it isn’t necessarily the best for watching TV. Sunlight is not your friend when you want to curl up with your favorite show, movie, or video game, especially if there are any dark scenes upcoming.
Glares ruin the image and distract from the story, creating an unsustainable and ultimately dissatisfying viewing experience.
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Glares ruin the image and distract from the story, creating an unsustainable and ultimately dissatisfying viewing experience. It can also be especially hard to watch content with the utmost fidelity when the sun is shining into the TV room. All hope is not lost, however. Here are a few ways to live in harmony with the sun while watching TV.
1 Create a theater environment
As filmmakers and manufacturers intended
Glare on a TV screen is an annoying issue, and one that TV manufacturers are acutely aware of. While they work to incorporate technology that reduces glare, they are also creating TVs that are meant to be used in a theater-like environment, namely a room almost completely devoid of light. In fact, most of the default settings on a TV are designed with this in mind, which is why it’s also useful to adjust any TV when you first use it.
When first creating an entertainment space, try to find a space for the TV in a room with as little sunlight potentially coming in as possible.
The best way to reduce glare is to remove the sun from the equation entirely. When first creating an entertainment space, try to find a space for the TV in a room with as little sunlight potentially coming in as possible. If there are unavoidable windows, invest in blackout curtains so that no light enters the room at all. Without any ambient light, the TV will look and feel better. The screen will better showcase bright colors in some scenes and stark contrast in others.
Watching TV in complete darkness can cause eye strain. Incorporate biased lighting, such as a dim side lamp or strip lights behind the TV, so that your eyes are better adjusted to the environment.
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2 Adjust settings
Play around with basic controls
There are some minor adjustments to make that will improve the TV screen when the sun is shining. There are often presets that can make the image usually called something like ‘dynamic’ or ‘vivid.’ Typically, it’s recommended to avoid these settings in most situations, as they tend to distort tones and often aren’t in line with the vision of the director. However, because they make the image brighter, they can be helpful to combat a sunny day.
When the sun is shining, and you want to make your TV brighter, first see if you have a backlight option.
Aside from presets, you can adjust basic settings like contrast, brightness, and color, but it’s recommended not to stray too far from the norm. Brightness in particular is tricky, because on some TVs brightness is really influenced by backlighting, a setting that can also be adjusted. When the sun is shining, and you want a brighter picture, first see if there’s a backlight option, and try to increase that. If not, then try to increase the brightness, but not so much that it will start to wash out the picture.
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3 Find a new angle
Move the TV or yourself
HBO
Another option is to find a new and better position for both you and your TV. If only a portion of the TV has a glare on it, then repositioning yourself or the unit could vastly improve the situation. Firstly, check the TV. If it’s on a stand, consider other angles or spots where it could be reasonably moved. If it’s mounted, try to either tilt or turn it in such a way as to avoid direct sunlight.
Any small adjustment to either distance from the TV or angling from the center can do away with glare.
If the TV is immovable, then it’s time to reconsider where you’re watching. Any small adjustment to either distance from the TV or angling away from the center can do away with glare. Just keep in mind that even when you find the right spot, it might only be a momentary success — with the movement of the sun throughout the day, the glare will start to trek across the room, too.
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4 Choose content wisely
Consider what, and when, you’re watching
If you can’t beat the sun, the next course of action is to live with it. Choose what to watch based on what will best tolerate the light based on general cinematography and the time of day.
During the daylight hours, avoid watching prestige dramas and cinematic content, as they typically employ directors and cinematographers that play with light and use sophisticated cameras that make what they see better than what you’ll end up seeing.
This also means staying away from some sci-fi and horror genres; basically anything that will feature scenes in the dark. It may be an annoying schedule-breaker, but I’d argue it’s a lot more annoying to try — and fail — to enjoy something that you’re struggling to see, especially if it’s high on the watch list.
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5 Invest in a new TV
Buy a smart TV designed to be bright
Samsung
If incoming sunlight is going to be an ongoing issue, whether because of location or the nature of the space, then it may be worth considering investing in a new TV. New smart TVs from the top manufacturers feature all kinds of technology meant to make the screen more appealing, including innovations to reduce glare and increase brightness. Quantum-dot LED TVs, for example, pride themselves on peak brightness and eye-catching color, making them suitable for brightly-lit rooms.
All of these efforts are in the service of watching content the way it was meant to be watched, so you can enjoy the visual experience to the fullest.
If you’re especially keen on watching TV in what will regularly be a bright room or outdoors, there are specialty models available. Several brands feature models specifically for sunny obstacles, like a partial-sun option in Samsung’s lifestyle aTV lineup.
Brands are constantly innovating in order to create a TV screen that can be enjoyed in any kind of environment, but the best way to help your TV is to remove as much light as possible from the room, as often as possible. All of these efforts are in the service of watching content the way it was meant to be watched, so you can enjoy the visual experience to the fullest.
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